Mediator to aid in Dumont talks

DUMONT — A state-appointed mediator will help the teachers union and school board negotiate a new contract after months of inconclusive discussion.

The three-year contract ended June 30, and the Dumont Education Association has been in talks with the Board of Education since March.

The union has roughly 230 members working throughout the district's five public schools. They are currently working under the terms of the expired contract.

Schools Superintendent Emanuele Triggiano said both sides had filed for an impasse with the state. A mediator also was required three years ago, for the last contract talks, Triggiano said.

DEA President Genevieve DiTrani said in an email that "We thought that since the state took care of the matter of benefit contribution, the process would not have to reach this step. But there are still some issues that seem to be a sticking point for the board: salary and a change in the structure of our existing salary guide.

"Classes are going on as usual, and I doubt that any student is even aware of the state of negotiations," DiTrani added.

Both DiTrani and school board President John Kohlberger said they had confidence that a fair agreement would be reached.

"As with any negotiations, there are issues that just take time to work out," Kohlberger said. The board and the union, he said, "have always worked well together."

The first meeting with the mediator has been set for Oct. 30.

Joseph Coppola Jr., president of the Bergen County Education Association, said county union leaders do not intercede in drawn-out contract negotiations. "We lend assistance as they request it," Coppola said.

Dumont is not the only Bergen County district without a current teacher contract. In the county's 74 districts, 25 contracts — for teachers, staff or custodians — remained unsettled as of Sept. 20, Coppola said. Of those 25, five had been pushed into mediation.

"But just because there's no contract, it doesn't mean there's a dispute," Coppola said. "Here in Bergen County, we are very fortunate — reasonable heads prevail, contracts get settled."

Clifton's public school teachers recently signed a contract after more than three years without one.